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Obama leads in Colorado but Romney gaining, says new DU poll

President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney wave to the audience at the start of the presidential debate Wednesday, October 3, 2012 at the University of Denver. (Craig F. Walker, The Denver Post)

Barack Obama holds a slim lead in the presidential race in Colorado, but voters' impressions of Mitt Romney are improving, according to a new poll released Sunday by the University of Denver.

Following Romney's strong showing in the first presidential debate — held at DU — 38 percent of voters reported an impression of Romney that is getting better, according to the poll. That compares to only 18 percent for President Obama, who also saw 31 percent of voters report they have a worsening impression of him. Twenty-seven percent of voters said their impression of Romney is worsening.

The poll found that Obama leads his Republican challenger Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, overall in the state 47 percent to 43 percent, right at the outer edge of the poll's 4 percentage point margin of error.

Also significant is the indication that there are few voters left for the candidates to persuade. Eighty-eight percent of those polled said they have made up their minds. Only 6 percent said they could still be persuaded to vote for one candidate or another, while 5 percent said they are irrevocably unhappy with both candidates.

Among voters who watched the debate, 62 percent said it made them more committed to their chosen candidate and only 4 percent said it caused them to change their mind about whom to support.

"Two important lessons from the polls are, first, there are very few undecided voters left in Colorado, and second, Gov. Romney has improved his position to win them over in the closing days of the race," DU political scientist Peter Hanson, who helped oversee the poll, said in a statement.

"President Obama is maintaining a narrow lead in the state, but the major question is how much movement we can expect in the polls in coming weeks with not many voters left for the candidates to persuade," Hanson said.

The poll was taken on Thursday and Friday and sampled 604 likely Colorado voters.

It is the latest poll to bring good news for Romney, the Republican presidential nominee, following the debate.

A Gravis Marketing poll taken after the debate and released last week shows Romney with a three-point lead in Colorado, above the margin of error. A survey taken before the debate by the GOP polling firm McLaughlin & Associates shows Romney with a four-point advantage, albeit with a nearly six-point margin of error.

A Denver Post poll taken last month showed the race in Colorado essentially tied. The poll-tracking website Real Clear Politics, which averages recent polls, gives Obama a half percentage point lead in Colorado, putting the state among the tightest presidential battlegrounds.

John Ingold: 303-954-1068, jingold@denverpost.com or twitter.com/john_ingold

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